John Henry and "Money Ball"

For a while now, I've been thinking how technology has consistently replaced human functions - be they professional or personal. 


It remained as an abstract concept as I relied on more emotional resources in hiring and/or selecting roles for myself. For example, I love the idea of mentoring someone into a rockstar, but not all folks have a rockstar destiny, of course. This idea has been reinforced by seeing what Bill Bellichick has done for the NE Patriots over the past several years. We all joke that "he could start the water boy in whatever position and we'd still win."


How does he do it? And, more importantly, how do other leaders really pick talent successfully?  It's definitely the more important question as I look forward in my career. My success from here on out will not be judged by how well I execute marketing campaigns, but how well I can create and lead teams (who ideally are loyal and love working for me) to reach challenging goals. 


My track record of leading teams is pretty mixed right now, however.


I recently watched "Moneyball," the story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. Essentially, he looked at the players' component parts - their skills - to build super players. So, instead of trying to buy an $20 mill player with only a $38 million total budget, like his cronies where trying to do, he looked for players with just one attribute, versus all required attributes. The result was a team much like "the island of the misfit toys," to quote the movie - but, they beat some of the best teams in the league.  It was all in strict adherence to looking only at the skills which would make the team win the championship.  It changed the game as a result.


My approach has been like the cronies: look at the overall picture and develop a gut-feel. 


By switching my approach to thinking about required skills, versus personality, background, motivations, etc., I can see how I can become much sharper about picking talent and positioning myself for job opportunities.  


That's a major shift forward.